A day after India said it bombed Jaish-e-Mohammed’s (JeM) biggest training camp in Pakistan, the tension between the two countries further escalated on Wednesday after Islamabad launched retaliatory strikes and captured one Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot. India foiled Pakistan’s attempt to target its military installations, but one Indian Air Force plane was shot down in the aerial engagement and a pilot is in Pakistan’s custody, the Ministry of External Affairs has said. A Pakistani aircraft, too, was brought down by India and it fell on the Pakistani side, it added.The developments followed night-long heavy firing and shelling on forward and civilian areas from across the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri and Poonch. All residents of the border areas had been told to remain inside their homes and not venture outside.

New Delhi has lodged a strong protest with Islamabad at the unprovoked act of aggression, including violation of air space by the Pakistan Air Force and targeting of Indian military posts. The External Affairs Ministry, said in a statement, yesterday that the Acting High Commissioner of Pakistan was summoned and a strong protest was lodged. Ghafoor then claimed that two IAF pilots were captured. One pilot is injured and has been shifted to a hospital, while another one is unhurt, he added, showing documents of the arrested pilots but identifying only one. In a demarche issued to the Acting High Commissioner of Pakistan, New Delhi demanded that Islamabad ensure that no harm comes to the Indian defence personnel in its custody and he be released immediately.“The Acting High Commissioner of Pakistan was summoned this afternoon (Wednesday) by the MEA to lodge a strong protest at the unprovoked act of aggression earlier today, including the violation of the Indian air space by the Pakistan Air Force and targeting of Indian military posts,” a second statement from the MEA said. “Against this counter-terrorism action (of bombing the JeM training camp), Pakistan has responded this morning by using its air force to target military installations on the Indian side,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar told the media. “Due to our high state of readiness and alertness, Pakistan’s attempts were foiled successfully,” he added.